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Sprint CEO Plays Coy On iPhone 5 To Investors

Unlike T-Mobile, who definitively put to rest rumors of getting the iPhone 5 this year, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse offered more innuendo that Sprint will get the iPhone 5.
Sprint continues to leave a breadcrumb trail of innuendo and suggestion that will undoubtedly lead to a Sprint iPhone 5 launch.
In a conference call to investors, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse failed to confirm the iPhone 5 coming to the U.S. third largest network — not a surprise, since the only Apple representative who has said anything about a new iPhone is Al Gore — but he did make remarks about the prospects of how an iPhone release could positively impact Sprint’s fourth quarter 2011 earnings. From IBTimes: “Hesse declined to say on Wednesday whether the company was planning on selling the iPhone 5, which is rumored to be out in early to mid-October, probably even Oct. 4. Rather, he just said that, in order to meet the full-year target, Sprint would need to have a ‘very strong fourth quarter.’”
Of course, a “very strong fourth quarter” is a wink and a nod to investors to keep their eyes on Sprint as we enter October. And Hesse made sure to allude to the iPhone 5 in this context: “If the company were to sell the iPhone 5, the full-year targets would need to be changed, Hesse said.”

If Sprint was not getting the iPhone 5, now would be the time for Dan Hesse to let the tech media know, since if Sprint were to come up short in getting added to the iPhone’s list of U.S. carriers, it would be a major downer for the company — with both investors and customers alike. Expectations remain high that Sprint will have the iPhone 5, what with the mainstream media already reporting it, to the point that if it were not true, now would be the time to damage control the situation. This is exactly what T-Mobile has done this week, in order to stifle T-Mobile iPhone 5 rumors that to this point refused to die. T-Mobile CMO Cole Brodman said it plainly to T-Mobile employees, as reported by Apple Insider: “‘We are not going to get the iPhone 5 this year,’ Brodman allegedly told T-Mobile employees, without further expanding on the matter.” It was a smart move on Brodman’s part to nip that rumor in the bud so that there will be no letdown when the iPhone fails to come to T-Mobile this year.
With Sprint’s media event scheduled for October 7th — just days after the rumored October 4th Apple presser for the iPhone 5 announcement — it will be interesting to see how Sprint presents the new iPhone. Chances are, they will tout their unlimited data plan — the only one of its kinds in the U.S. mobile market, and perhaps a new 4G network roll-out, which may or may not impact the next iPhone.